A week after the news broke in Lazy-i, the folks at the Maha Music Festival today made it official: The Maha Festival returns Aug. 2, 2025, to RiverFront Park in downtown Omaha.
With the headline: Maha Festival Returning in 2025, Combining Forces with Outlandia, the press release also announced Maha’s original four founders are once again involved in the festival — Mike App, Tre Brashear, Tyler Owen and Mike Toohey. And as reported earlier, 1% Productions is both booking and producing the show.
“As Maha grew and found new leadership, the foursome worked with Omaha-based 1% Productions to start another music festival, Outlandia, in 2022,” said the press release. “They have decided to end Outlandia and recombine efforts with Maha.”
Also back for the 2025 festival is former Maha executive director Emily Cox. And let’s not forget MECA, the organization who oversees The RiverFront, who no doubt will also be playing a key role.
Maha Festival Board President TJ Twit said expect announcements on performers and other details about Maha 2025 in the coming months. I’m told they already booked the headliners.
In a time when we seem to hear almost daily of a long-running music festival either being postponed or cancelled (I’m looking at you, Chicago’s Pitchforkfest), it’s great to see Omaha’s keynote music festival is alive and well and will be back, hopefully bigger and better than ever….
A personal highlight of attending this year’s Grrrl Camp festival was getting a personal tour of the Falconwood Park compound by 1% Production’s Jim Johnson. During the golf-cart adventure I met Brandon and Jim Miller, the proprietors of Falconwood, who briefly recapped the park’s story.
So inspired was I by their tale of overcoming one disaster after another only to come out with one of area’s premiere event facilities that I pitched the story to the fine folks at Flatwater Free Press. They said “proceed,” and lo and behold, the story was published yesterday.
I got this one done just under the wire. Outlandia Festival begins tomorrow at Falconwood, and despite what has been the worst weather year I’ve lived (survived) through (flooding rains, grapefruit-sized-hail storms, blistering heatwaves and last week’s hurricane-force windstorm), Outlandia is lucking into one of the best weather-weekends of the year.
During the reporting, everyone talked about reasons folks have yet to venture out to the park for past festivals or events. Distance and unfamiliarity were on the list, but one of the toppers was concern about park access – Falconwood Park is accessed by taking the Glenwood Exit driving on Interstate 75 and then taking Highway 34 a few hundred yards to narrow, two-lane South 8th St. to Falconwood’s main entrance, where you’re on an even narrower barely two-lane road to the parking fields. If you saw it on a map you’d think, “man, getting in and out of there during a festival has to be a nightmare.”
The organizers know you’re thinking this and have prepared to make coming and going as smooth as possible. They tell me there’s never been a severe backup leaving the park. Tyler Owen, one of Outlandia’s organizers, put it this way:
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been stuck in a Husker parking garage after a football game. It ain’t that,” he said. “We watched the line of red tail lights and it was maybe bad for 15 or 20 minutes, but it wasn’t (like) getting stuck on the top deck of a parking garage in Lincoln.”
I’ve talked to a number of folks who have attended past Outlandia Festivals and all said getting out of the park wasn’t a headache. If what Tyler and the Outlandia team says is true, it’ll be tested Friday night when The Faint (and not headliner The Flaming Lips) close out the first day’s festivities. I’ve talked to more people excited about The Faint than any other band on the festival’s bill this year. The Head and the Heart close out Saturday night.
The full band line-up and other specifics are at outlandiafestival.com. I’ll write more about the bands tomorrow w/some sound clips, etc. All three tiers of tickets are still available.
Other than the initial announcement, Outlandia Festival information has been sparse. Last Wednesday, Falconwood Park (where Outlandia is held) announced it created an Executive Director position and hired former Lincoln Calling executive director Shannon Claire.
“Claire brings 15+ years of event organizing and business management experience to the grounds and will focus on securing nationally renowned and emerging acts in hopes to produce more single-day live music events,” according to the press release. “In addition to entertainment, she will also concentrate on community outreach opportunities and managing the park’s public relations.”
Clair will work alongside Falconwood Park owner Brandon Miller, who said he wants to “grow the caliber of concerts we hold during the season.”
Clair said she wants to make Nebraska a viable destination for live music and national talent. “Nebraska is very much known as a flyover state, or a drive-thru state when it comes to artists touring,” she said. “Providing an opportunity for people to take in concerts closer to home, versus traveling to places like Denver, Chicago, or Minneapolis to see some of their favorite national acts, is the goal.”
Falconwood Park, which is located at 905 Allied Road in Bellevue, boasts three stages — two outdoor and one indoor — that range incapacity from 500 to 10,000 attendees, according to the release. Last weekend they hosted a handful of classic-rock cover bands, and upcoming gigs include “An Orchestral Rendition of Dr. Dre: 2001” on July 8. The Outlandia Festival is Aug. 11-12 and headlined by Lord Huron, Modest Mouse and Jimmy Eat World.
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Singer/songwriter Brad Hoshaw, who moved from Omaha to California a few years ago, announced last Thursday that he’s moving to Nashville.
“I’ve accepted a job transfer to Nashville that’s going to unlock some incredible music career opportunities for me,” he wrote in a letter to his mailing list. “I genuinely believe that now is the perfect time for me to dive into Nashville’s vibrant music scene and discover where my music can take me.”
I’ve always believed that Hoshaw could make a go of it as a songwriter in Music City. Getting embedded into that work stream could be… challenging. No doubt he’ll be bringing copies of this two stellar albums, 2009’s Brad Hoshaw & the Seven Deadlies and 2021’s Living on a Sliver.
I told you to jump on it if you wanted VIPs — Outlandia Festival’s 2-Day VIP tickets sold out in a matter of hours, as did the Friday night 1-Day VIP tickets for The National. And just this morning, the Saturday VIPs for Wilco also sold out.
I’m still trying to figure out where exactly they’ll stage this event on the Falconwood compound (or locate the parking, for that matter), and so are a few other people I know who are going to the event. The map reveal will be as big as the lineup reveal!
BTW, all the Maha Festival VIPS are still available.
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There’s a fantastic show tonight at The Sydney in Benson. Athens band Blunt Bangs boasts a lineup that includes Reggie Youngblood (Black Kids) on guitar and vocals, Christian “Smokey” DeRoeck (Woods, Deep State, Meneguar, Little Gold) on guitar and vocals, and Cash Carter (Tracy Shedd, The Cadets) on drums. Their latest album, Proper Smoker (2021, Big Hassle Records) was recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens and is a scorching collection of indie power-pop influenced by the likes of early Teenage Fanclub and Superchunk.
Opening the show is our own indie power-pop combo, Ojai. And there’s a mystery about the second band on the bill. The 1% Productions website says a new band, Ah Ensemble, are on the bill — a band that consists of members of And How. The future of And How appears to be in doubt, if you followed the band on Instagram (an account that has since been taken down). Meanwhile, the Facebook event listing for this show has Hussies in that opening spot. I guess you’ll find out tonight.
This is a 3-band bill with a 9 p.m. start time, which unfortunately takes me out of the game on a Tuesday night. The Sydney appears to be the only music venue booking three-band shows with 9 p.m. start times on weeknights. My biggest concern is that Blunt Bangs will learn what the term “getting Omaha’d” means… $10.
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Add eight more bands to the Petfest line-up for their Aug. 13 festival in Benson. Newly announced:
Nowhere David Nance No Thanks Better Friend Glow Ruby Block Bug Heaven Thirst Things First
They join already announced:
Amulets Cat Piss Universe Contest Ghost Foot Mike Schlesinger Problems
And there’s more to come. Petfest tickets go on sale Friday, April 2.
Turns out someone from Gary Numan’s team got COVID, which is why Thursday’s show was postponed. In a message, Numan said he hopes to reschedule sometime toward the end of summer. Here’s hoping safe passage through illness.
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Tickets to the Outlandia and Maha music festivals both went on sale today at 10 a.m. If you want VIP tix to either event, you better buy them now.
Yesterday, @OutlandiaFest on Twitter replied to one of my tweets at @tim_mcmahan (come on by!) that “The ‘land adjacent’ was purchased by Falconwood and will now be home to the new, improved and vastly larger Falconwood. Maybe they need to rebrand to Falconwood Mega Park. Just wanted to clarify it most certainly is still Falconwood Park.”
The additional property is the Salvation Army Gene Eppley Camp, which Falconwood shared a border with on two sides. I’m still curious where the stage will be, and the parking. Organizer Marc Leibowitz (of 1% Productions) said in the OWH article that there would be thousands of parking spots available. I’ll try to swing by the park this weekend and see what I can see…
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As of this morning before I went to work, Petfest had announced six bands so far for their Aug. 13 festival in Benson:
Amulets Cat Piss Universe Contest Ghost Foot Mike Schlesinger Problems
More to come. Amulets is an ambient/noise project by Portland’s Randall Taylor. Haunting. Petfest tickets go on sale Friday, April 2.
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Tonight at Reverb Lounge it’s Omaha indie band Lodgings. I’ve seen these folks a few times at O’Leaver’s (who, more than ever, appear to be out of the live music business. Come on, O’Leaver’s, book some shows). Joining Lodgings tonight is GLOW and southern-fried rockers Lightning Stills (Craig Fort and Co.). $8, 9 p.m.
Is the new normal 9 p.m. shows on weekends and 8 p.m. start times during the week (except, apparently, at The Sydney)? Well, it’s better than 10 p.m. start times.
That’s it. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Let me leave you with the just-released single by Nathan Ma, “She’s WIld” mixed by Young Guv. Have a great weekend.
As we all know by now, Outlandia Festival announced their line-up yesterday, and it’s easily the biggest drawing ticket of any local festival in recent memory.
Wilco, The National, Band of Horses, Silversun Pickups, The Breeders, Local Natives, Real Estate are the top “gets,” and each is a big draw by themselves. The price point of $79 single day / $149 2-day is a bargain (but don’t forget the $25 parking fee (or $15 if you’re willing to take a shuttle)). I don’t know what Falconwood Park’s capacity is, but even without knowing, I have to believe this will sell out. Tickets go on sale this Friday, and the festival is Aug. 12 and 13.
Meanwhile, today The Maha folks announced its line-up for their festival July 29 and 30 at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village. The headliner is Beach House, who currently has the No. 1 album on the college radio charts (It already topped the Billboard rock and alt charts), with Car Seat Headrest returning to headline the Friday night lineup. Filling in the gaps are Princess Nokia, PUP, Indigo De Souza, Sudan Archives, Bartees Strange, Geese and Sweeping Promises. Tickets are $35 for Friday night, $65 for Saturday, and $85 for the two-day event. Parking is free.
In a cage match where ticket sales are the key to victory, Outlandia will win hands down. But there’s one problem with Outlandia’s line-up, for me anyway: There’s not a single band I want to see. Everyone is ga-ga about The National, which to me is like the (comedian) Steven Wright of indie bands. Droll, very droll. I’ve seen Wilco before (Zzzzz), and I was at Aksarben Coliseum when The Breeders opened for Nirvana 30 years ago, and that was a snooze.
Outlandia’s history has direct ties with the Maha Festival. Three dudes who originally put together Maha are involved, and I guess that partially explains the line-up. Those guys all worship Wilco and have wanted to book them at Maha as long as I can remember. The knock against Outlandia: It’s old white-guy music, Dad Rock. Maybe so, but Dad Rock sells, baby, especial in this market.
As for Maha, well, I’m not a big Beach House fan, either. I’ve seen them live at TWR, and they bored me to tears. But, I love Indigo, Car Seat and PUP, and am intrigued by Geese, Bartees and Sweeping Promises. Actually, I’m intrigued by the entire line-up except Beach House, but I’ve never liked Maha’s headliners. This year’s Maha Fest is like a SXSW showcase sponsored by Pitchfork. Of the bands booked, only Beach House, PUP and Car Seat Headrest could fill The Waiting Room. The rest (except for maybe Princess Nokia and Sudan Archives, who I know nothing about) would be hard-pressed to sell out Reverb. Compared to Outlandia, Maha’s line-up is more youth-targeted, diverse and likely to sell poorly in a market that doesn’t have a real college radio station. But that’s always been the case.
Outlandia only has two local bands on the bill, Clarence Tilton and Masonjixx. Maha has six local acts, but still manages to miss the mark when it comes to capturing what’s going on in local indie music scene. Only Spanish-language punk band Las Cruxes fits that bill.
That’s where Petfest comes in. The tiny festival hosted behind Petshop Gallery in Benson just happens to be the same day as Outlandia this year — Aug. 13 — and the ticket price is about the same as Outlandia’s parking fee. Hands down, Petfest has the best local line-up of any festival or concert. Having seen this year’s line-up, I can tell you that will be true again. But this year, it’ll also have a few national touring acts, too. Because of Outlandia’s surprise announcement yesterday, Petfest has decided to slow-drip announcing their line-up over the next couple of weeks.
So who will be the big winner? In my opinion, all of them will be. Because as I said before, Outlandia targets a different audience than Maha (or Petfest). As a wise man told me, the kids will be at Maha, and their dads will be at Outlandia.
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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Cassandra Jenkins opens for Andy Shauf. Her 2021 album, An Overview of Phenomenal Nature, was on my 2021 year-end best-of list. Andy Shauf’s latest, The Neon Skyline, is out on ANTI- records. 8:30, $20.
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